Rhinelander tourism committee funds several projects with room tax money

It was grant awarding time for the Rhinelander tourism and marketing committee at its Dec. 15 meeting. The committee was tasked with more grant application asks than they had money to give out. This would mean they would need to make the difficult decision to either not fund some projects and/or to offer some projects only partial funding.

Because these are room tax funds, one of the main sticking points was how many people an event or project would bring to town and how many rooms would be booked by those people.

The first item for discussion was that of a need by the Hodag 4 Wheeler ATV/UTV Club for help in purchasing power tools needed for trail maintenance. Their application this year asked the committee for $600.  After a short deliberation, the committee decided to fund half of the tool purchase, as it had done in the past.

The first bigger ask was from the Hodag BMX Club, Inc. They would be hosting the Gold Cup Final and needed help with track improvements. The ask was $15,000. City administrator Patrick Reagan said, although it was the biggest amount of those they needed to consider, he felt it was well worthwhile, considering the number of people it would bring to town. 

“I would just say this is going to be a bigger deal than a lot of things we have on here,” Reagan said. “It’s going to bring people from all over.”

Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce Director Lauren Sackett agreed, saying it had the potential to bring a large number of people from out of the area who would then stay in town.

“Heads in beds” was a theme throughout the meeting, as the committee members did the difficult work of determining the best use of the limited funds they had available. Sackett said the Hodag BMX Club would be hosting the North Central Regional Gold Cup Finals, which would include Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan, Illinois and Iowa. All of the feeder events would feed into this event, which would then feed into the nationals.

“To me, this isn’t the time to cheap out,” Reagan said. The committee agreed.

Hodag Sno-Trails asked for help with some informational and directional signage at trail intersections. They club estimated this would cost approximately $1,500 and asked for room tax dollars to do that. With the bottom line being what it is, and anticipating that there would need to be cuts, the committee settled on $1,000 for this project.

The Hodag Sports Club was up next, with a $3,000 grant application. This would be the second year of the Hodag Challenge Shoot Out. There were 90 shooters last year, according to their application, and they looked to grow the event to 250-300 shooters. Sackett said the club was projecting a profit of $8,500 on the event. Mayor Kris Hanus said he was in favor of not funding that amount, based on the fact that the club could hold the event without that marketing. There was also some question as to how many of the shooters would be coming from out of the area and, hence, would be requiring lodging in town. Once the dust settled, the committee agreed to provide $1,000 to Hodag Sports Club for their event.

There was unanimous agreement that Lights of the Northwoods, which was next on the docket, was a great event that took a large amount of work to put on. However, again there was some concern about using room tax dollars to support an event that may not be adding to those “heads in beds,” or increasing the number of people staying in the area. However, because the Lights are a big draw for a lot of people, the committee did agree to a $1,500 grant. 

Sackett told the committee the Chamber was also asking for $2,500 for Hodag Heritage Festival, which would be adding a lumberjack show this year. She said the Chamber was asking for funds for this event because they were not asking for money for the art fair or the car show. The committee originally tabled this ask, effectively pushing it down the list to see what funds might be available. Once the other funds had been allocated, the committee reconsidered this event, with more being added to it, and allocated $1,500 to the event.

“Again, this is a great event,” said committee member Skinner. “We go to it every year. I just don’t know how many people it brings in from out of the area.”

The Harvest Hoedown for the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry asked for $750. Sackett said the pantry had asked for funds for the event for 2025 also, but at that time the committee denied them due to the lack of bringing in outside visitors who would provide those “heads in beds” for which room tax dollars could be spent. Skinner reiterated that her family went to this event as well and it was fun, but, again, it did not seem to draw a lot of people from out of the area. Hanus said that perhaps it should be more clear on the application that priority would be given to events that did bring in people from out of the area. In the end, the committee allocated $250 for this event. 

The curling club, too, asked for funding, for the third year. Sackett said the event did a great job at tracking where people were staying, and they did draw a good number of people from out of the area. They were granted the $500 for which they asked.

The Rhinelander Ice Association asked for funding for two events. One was the Hodag Hockey Invitational and the second was the IceBreaker Tournament. The first event does bring a lot of people into town, and were asking for $1,500 specifically for marketing to people out of the area. The committee settled on $1,000 for this event, knowing they would not have funds to fully fund all of the asks. The IceBreaker Tournament, said is more on the local side, but does still generate some room revenue. This event, too, was given $1,000.

Funding for the Hodag Musky Challenge was also up for debate, with a $1,000 ask. The committee agreed to $500, which was the same as the previous granting cycle.

The Kiwanis playground and splash pad also asked for funds, with a $10,000 ask, which would help to fund the playground equipment. Again there was some concern that the project was not really bringing extra people into town. After some lengthy discussion, the committee decided fund $6,000.

Another project that required a great deal of deliberation was improvements at the Samoset Council scout property for a mountain biking race. One point of contention was the scout grounds were not open to the public, as the BMX track is. Also, several committee members mentioned that the Samoset Council was only hosting the event, and that the event organizers should have been the ones to apply, if they wanted to use the funds to bring people into town. Dan Brekke said he had a lot of people stay at his resort during this event in the past, so he knew it did bring people to town. In the end, the committee decided to fund $500 for signage at the event to show support for the event. 

The Hodag Mini Triathlon also asked for funds in the amount of $500. But because the event is quite small, and is normally attended by local runners, the committee decided not to fund the grant application this time around.

WXPR also asked for $2,500 for their spring concert series. Sackett said they were awarded $1,000 last year, and the committee settled on $500 for this grant cycle. 

Discover Wisconsin video project

Sackett told the committee that Discover Wisconsin had finished their summer and fall filming for the February episode about Rhinelander, and hoped to come back this winter for some more b roll for the episode, likely for the New Year’s fireworks. She said Nicolet College had offered their auditorium for a Premier viewing event, which will be held February 6, 2026. Discover Wisconsin will also be at the premier viewing. There will be food and a cash bar. This event will allow residents to view the episode before it airs on television. The public will need a ticket to attend, but it will be free to attend. A link for registration will be coming soon.

The Rhinelander episode of Discover Wisconsin will air on Feb.  21 or 22, depending on the market.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].